Crouch End 2030 — emerging priorities, part one: key take-aways
Crouch End 2030 Workshop
Part One: Event & Key Findings
On Saturday 8 June 2024, The Crouch End Neighbourhood Forum facilitated a visioning workshop for Crouch End 2030. Set out below are the key finding and recommendations from the event.
See also Part 2. Topic Group Findings
Crouch End Today
The starting point for discussion was Crouch End today. It was recognised that there has been an historic lack of investment in the public realm and street furniture in the centre of Crouch End since the late 1970’s, and that significant improvement was long overdue.
In contrast to the high quality of Crouch End’s residential streets the environment in the centre of Crouch End is poor and tired, traffic dominated, with extensive on-street parking, narrow pavements, lack of seating and an isolated Clocktower.
Crouch End’s residential streets are characterised by being tree-lined and green yet the centre of Crouch End is notable by the absence of trees and landscaping. As a traffic thoroughfare air quality is poor.
Much discussion focussed on the anticipation of the refurbished Hornsey Town Hall to improve the attractiveness of Crouch End’s offer for arts, culture, leisure and employment opportunities. Attendees expressed concern over the delays and uncertainty regarding the opening of the Arts Centre and Hotel.
The centre of Crouch end has a long-established decline in comparison shopping which has likely been accelerated by Covid, and there is an increasing number of vacant retail units.
The groups recognised that since the recent developments of vacant sites along Tottenham Lane there were few major future development opportunities within the centre of Crouch End being limited to the Oddbins and BT site on Crouch Hill, and the car park to the rear of Waitrose. Most growth is envisaged to be through the redevelopment of existing plots and extensions, for good or ill.
Key Take-Aways
There was universal agreement that the traffic-dominated centre of Crouch End needs improvement, with improved accessibility for all users and to improve footfall.
Calls across all groups were for the ‘greening’ of Crouch End. Participants were keen to see improved public realm and increased pavement space with an increase in street trees and street-level planting, creating parklets in small currently neglected areas and on-street, establishing rain gardens, increasing and improving social seating areas that are accessible and comfortable for all.
Attendees expressed the importance of providing and protecting spaces for Crouch End’s creative community.
One Comment
I appreciate you all sharing these summaries.
It could also be useful, and help manage expectations, if you could lay out a tentative timeline for decision making and possible implementations for all these wonderful visions.
Is there another round of priority setting at the neighbourhood level or does this now go the council? Or is there a possible working group of neighbours and council members to move this forward?
Pardon me if I’ve missed this info somewhere else, but it’ll be good to know where we locals can be the most helpful in actually realising our visions.
Thx, Charles